Hope Springs Eternally
by missick93
Summary: WWII. It was not hard for Erik Olsen to catch one of the many leaflets floating down from the sky. There were hundreds of them, just drifting down on the murmuring crowd like confetti. Only confetti had never made him sick with worry before...


**Hey all! This is my first ever Hetalia fic, so I hope you enjoy it. **

**A few notes:  
The characters of Ludwig and Sweden do not belong to me, and *techinally*, I did not come up with Denmark either. However, since he has not yet appeared in the web comic and he is still a complete unknown, I own the name and personality of Erik Olsen ;)  
I don't own King Chirstian X either XD**

**Also, I'm still not quite sure on some of the details, such as the castle of Amalienborg, and the German/Danish. However, I'm having it edited by an expert (my mother haha), and should have any corrections fixed as soon as possible.**

* * *

Denmark. April 9, 1940

It was not hard for Erik Olsen to catch one of the many leaflets floating down from the sky. There were hundreds of them, just drifting down on the murmuring crowd like confetti. Only confetti had never made him sick with worry before.

"Faen," he mumbled, running a hand through his unkempt blonde hair. "This can't be good." He attempted to read it, furrowing his brow in frustration. It seemed to be a written in a broken mix of Danish, Norwegian, and…German. He felt his stomach drop. It may have been poorly written, but the message seemed clear enough. He clenched his fist to maintain a grasp on the paper, the hand holding it shaking so badly it was sure to fall otherwise. "This…I need to talk to the boss."

Looking around, he broke into a run, sprinting as fast as he could to Amalienborg. No one would notice him now, not with the rest of the world as befuddled as it was. The paper continued to rain down, bright against the iron colored sky. Erik felt a jolt of vicious satisfaction every time he trampled one into the mud, or swatted one with his gloved hand as he dashed along. Up the cobblestone street, taking three, four steps with each single bound. Tearing through the courtyard, he burst through the doors and rushed through the entrance hall.

Eerie, how silent the place was. Usually there was a dull murmur of voices that echoed slightly throughout the vast place. Serious or celebratory, it was a constant, comforting sound. Today however, the only noticeable sound was his foot falls, each of them seeming to ring louder then the next. They resonated in the silence. It felt shameful, like every step he took was another blow to his already bruised pride. He slowed to a walk, panting, but couldn't help but walk as quickly as possible down the hall until he reached the room at the very end. He closed his eyes and tried to steady himself before opening the door.

It didn't work.

He threw it open, still breathing heavily. He expected the room to be crowded, full of irate people, but no…he was nearly alone. Nearly. He bowed.

"Your highness."

King Christian X did not look back, but continued to stare out the window at something, it seemed, that Erik could not see.

"Ah, Erik. I have been expecting you." Erik felt a sudden surge of resentment. Of course he'd been expected. Of course he's the one who needed to be appeased now and oh if the king would not go to great lengths to do that.

"Of course I've come, your highness," he said, straining to keep the edge out of his voice. "I came just as soon as I heard that our country has just been handed over so willingly to the Nazis." He spat the final word, eager to get the foul taste of it off his tongue. He couldn't help it. He was trying with all he could to muster the respect to face his king, and yet he could not. They were occupied. They we now just another piece of paraphernalia in the eyes of the German fascists, and where was their hope now? King Christian sighed, lowering his head.

"This…was the only way," he said softly.

"We could have stood and fought, with honor," Erik snarled

"The battle has already taken place. We have lost." Erik gaped, aghast at the sudden and unexpected news.

"A-already taken place? Why wasn't I alerted?!"

"It did not last long. Mere hours. Erik…their army outnumbers ours ten to one. Civilian lives were at stake. Don't you understand?"

"Why would you give in so easily?! Your people love you, and this country! Thousands, more than willing to die to protect it!" he roared. The king turned suddenly, his eyes flashing.

"Exactly the reason to surrender, Olsen! Do you think I do not already know this? Have you seen the sheer power of the German forces?!" he snapped. He breathed deeply, and when he spoke again, remorse coated each word that fell from his mouth. "We lost sixteen Danish soldiers today. It will not be remembered as much; far more have been lost in the name of both war and peace. But those were sixteen men that will not be returning home to their families tonight. Sixteen more men than I am willing to sacrifice. Each one of those men had a name and a face, and now have become just a number along with the countless others who have died for such causes. I cannot bear to watch my people suffer and die."

"And letting them succumb to the control of these swine is not suffering to you?" Erik said coolly. "Your highness, I have seen what these men have done-"

"As have I, Erik."

"You cannot abandon your people at a time like this."

"I know," he said simply. "And that is why I will stay." Erik looked at him blankly. King Christian's eyes softened as he spoke once more. "Yes, Erik, I will stay. It is one of the few benefits gained by our swift surrender. I have never once, nor do I intend to let this great country fall apart…and sometimes that requires sacrifice. From all of us." The finality in his voice made Erik feel suddenly ashamed.

"I…I'm sorry, your highness. I did not mean to question your judgment," he inclined his head, blushing in embarrassment. "I know that you would only do what wis best for Denmark." The king smiled slightly, gazing back out the window.

"Erik, what do you see out there?" He turned his head to follow his king's gaze, befuddled by the sudden, seemingly random question.

"The Dannebrog, your highness?" he asked, puzzled. King Christian turned to him, smiling grimly.

"As long as I remain, that is the flag that will fly over Amalienborg. I swear to you, I will never see this country fall. 'Håb affjedre i det uendelige'. Remember that, Olsen." Erik had barely the time to nod when a curt rap came at the door.

"Please, come in," said King Christian calmly, sitting back down in the chair behind his desk. The door swung open, and there, standing tall and proud, was one of the last people the Dane had hoped to see.

Ludwig inclined his head a fraction of an inch, the barest hint of a smug grin marring his handsome features. Erik gritted his teeth, his fists clenched and shaking in anger. The German's light eyes flicked from the king to his subject, his grin widening by the second. One of the pamphlets was held in his gloved hand.

"Heard the good news, have we Erik?" he said with a smirk, waving the paper lazily.

"There is no good news in that rubbish, bonderøv," he growled. The pronouncement did not falter Ludwig's smile; the coldness only seemed to intensify.

"Ah, but there's always good news for the new world order," he said with a harsh laugh. "Be happy, Olsen. The Danes themselves will have no trouble. Such good Aryans… once we have done a bit of pruning, your country will be good as new. Better then ever, in fact.

"Pruning?" The king's tone was harsh. "I assure you, there is no need of such practice in Denmark." The German shrugged.

"None of us are prefect. At least, not yet. All we have to do is a little clean up here and there."

"And what exactly does that entail, Ludwig?" Erik asked through gritted teeth. He straightened himself, becoming suddenly stern.

"Surely you have keeping track of the great progress our county has made. We need to cleanse this world of all the undesirables if we are to build a greater, more powerful nation."

"Undesirables. And precisely what makes someone 'undesirable'?"

"The lowlifes, the riffraff. The people we would all be better off without. The Gypsies. The schwule. The dummkopfs. But most of all the stinking Jews. Mein Führer has promised that by the time we are through, we will have exterminated no less than thirteen million of the loathsome insekts." Erik's eyes widened in horror at what he was hearing. Noticing his shock, Ludwig rolled his eyes and sighed theatrically.

"Oh Olsen, there you go again. Acting as though they are _people_." Erik was about to retort in fury, but King Christian threw a severe glance in his direction and he fell silent, biting his tongue.

"I see you already have big plans for reform, Ludwig." The king said politely. "However, I will not permit you to harm any of my subjects. We are to let you stay in our country; use our waterways and our resources. Unless you have shown me there is due cause, you will not hurt a single hair on the head of any of my people, however 'undesirable' you have decided them to be." Ludwig's face flashed in anger, then back into his previous sneer.

"Soft hearted as ever, I see." The king smiled sadly but remained silent. "Well. We'll see. You may have a change of heart in the long time we have ahead of us. See that you do, if you know what's good for you."

"And maybe in the long time ahead of us, you'll stop being a lortehoved," the Dane added under his breath. Ludwig grimaced.

"Erik, willst du wohl gefälligst den mund halten?" he barked.

"Come again?"

"Shut up, Olsen."

"Make me."

"Gladly." The German reached into his coat, smoothly drawing out a revolver, the handle sporting a pearl-inlay with a black swastika in the center. Erik stiffened, his eyes following the other mans finger. It moved slowly, finally resting on the trigger. Ludwig's eyes narrowed as he placed the gun to the side of his head. "Give me one reason, and I'd be more than happy to finish this here and now."

"That is enough!" King Christian had jumped to his feet. "I will not tolerate such behavior! Ludwig, if you do not remove that gun from Olsen's head immediately, I'll-"

"You'll what? What will happen if I don't," he asked scathingly, but the gun was already back in his coat pocket.

"We may be under your occupation, but we are not your servants," the king said quietly. "You would do well to remember that." Ludwig let out a contemptuous snort.

"I had come here with the intentions of speaking to you in private," he said coldly.

"Like hell you will-" began Erik, but the king raised his hand and he fell silent.

"Erik, it would be in the best interests of everyone if you were to leave now." Erik opened his mouth to protest, but he stopped himself, knowing it would do no good now. He bowed his head.

"As you wish, your highness." Ludwig glared at him. Erik glared back.

"It would be my honor to escort Mr. Olsen out, your majesty," he said, barely hiding the detestation in his voice. The Dane looked from him to his king, who nodded shortly, and hesitated.

"But-"

"_Bewegung__," _Ludwig hissed."Now." With all the resentment he could muster to cover the nauseating dread in his stomach, he left the room, making sure to slam the door as hard as he could on the German. Erik sniggered at the yelp of pain that came from behind him. The door banged open and Ludwig followed his out, bright red and seething. He slammed it shut again.

"You have the reaction time of a toddler, Lou," he chuckled. Ludwig growled and grabbed the front of the Dane's coat. Erik looked back at him without so much as blinking. "Watch the uniform."

"You listen here," Ludwig snarled. "You will not speak to me like that in front of your boss again. You will, in fact, not speak to me like that ever again. Have I made myself plain?"

"Plain as can be. And you will never speak to him that way again," Erik growled. "Talk to me however you want, but you will not speak to my king that way. Ever. No matter how powerful your 'new world order' becomes." Ludwig tightened his grip on the Erik's uniform.

"The way I speak to your king is really none of your concern, Olsen," he breathed. "Not if you want to keep that empty little head of yours intact."

"Gaa ad helvede til, Ludwig," muttered Erik. The next thing he saw was a black gloved fist inches away from his face before he had flown backwards into the opposite wall. The collision knocked all the air out of his body and he crumpled, laying panting on the floor. Ludwig moved into his range of vision, staring down at him in disgust.

"Learn your place, boy." Erik grinned weakly and used his remaining energy to wave an offensive hand gesture in Ludwig's general direction. The German scowled. "Abhanden kommen!" he roared, and delivering a final kick to Erik's rib cage before storming back through the door at the end of the hall. Once sure Ludwig was well out of ear-shot, he groaned, wincing as he felt his bruised nose and ribs. With a grimace, he got back to his feet and limped back out of the hall.

Back across the courtyard.

Back down the silent cobblestone streets.

As he continued on, back down the path which he had come, he thought about what Ludwig had said. '_We need to cleanse this world of all the undesirables if we are to build a greater, more powerful nation.'_ Erik snorted. There was no way it would be allowed. Surely people would stop the idea before it ever came close to becoming reality. Still…thirteen million people. He had heard the firsthand accounts of those who had been to these rallies and book burnings. The fact Hilter could gain such a following at all made his heart sink.

Whether they could do it or not, they would try. That was almost certain. And they would have plenty of support too; the Nazi's weren't the only ones who hated these groups. They had the Gestapo working for them, plus anyone who wanted to gain good favor with the Germans. Now that they had the whole county under their control, there would be no where to turn. The only way out would be through Germany and that was suicide.

Unless…

Erik shook his head angrily. No. There was no way he was going to beg for help from that traitor now. No way in hell.

Though, now that he thought about it, it might be the best way. It wasn't far, only a few hours by boat. And there was nothing the German's could do to stop it.

No.

No.

No fucking way.

Not happening.

Erik closed his eyes and thought desperately. Surely there was another way. There had to be some other way to get people somewhere safe quickly. Anything but having to call HIM.

Erik opened his eyes after a few moments, disappointed nothing was coming to him. He heard the sound of arguing behind him and turned around to see what the commotion was. His eyes focused on a pair of German soldiers who had apparently just arrived. They were young, handsome, and arrogant. A Danish girl was trying to get past them, but every time she tried, they would move deliberately into her path. She asked them again and again to move, but they laughed as if they could not understand her (they know exactly what she is saying, thought Erik viciously).

Finally she turned around, intending to go the long way around to her destination, seeing as her usual path was being blocked. One of the men grabbed her sleeve, whistling nonchalantly. The other one laughed. She pulled away angrily. He continued harassing her, following her on her way up the street as his partner guffawed from his post at the street corner.

"Hey," Erik called to the soldier. The man spun around, annoyed at the intrusion into his fun. "Leave her alone."

"Are you going to make me?" the soldier said with a sneer.

"Yes," he replied simply. The soldier began to laugh. Erik remained silent. Gradually, his amusement had died down to a chuckle, then to silence. He may have stood a good five inches taller than the Dane, but the look in his eye was fierce. They flashed dangerously. The trooper giggled nervously, then walked quickly back to his fellow, muttering in German. He turned to the girl standing tearfully behind him.

"Thank you," she said softly. "I was worried-"

"Don't mention it," he said gruffly. "They should not bother you again." She nodded.

"Tak," she said again, and hurried along on her way. Erik frowned a little to himself, turning back to the soldiers now glowering at him from the street corner. He could not be there every time this happened. They had only been occupied a matter of hours. He sighed.

He knew what he had to do.

He hated that.

Erik half walked, half ran the rest of the way, taking the stairs to his small apartment two at a time. He fumbled with his keys before finally pushing the door open and practically fell inside. He found his address book and flipped frantically through the pages, looking for the one number he had never once used.

Yet.

And there it was.

He frowned and closed his eyes. Last chance to think of some other way….but nothing came to him. Picking up the phone he speed dialed, realized he had called the wrong number, and dialed again.

It rang twice before someone answered.

"'Lo?" a gruff voice on the other end answered.

"Hey," he muttered. "It's…me." There was silence on the other end, then…

"What do you want, Olsen?" He sighed, and shook his head, resigned. Ah well.

"Berwald, I need a favor…"

"Why? What could I possibly do for you this time?" the Swede said in distaste. "F'this is about why we were all better off under th' Kalmar Union again, I don't want to hear-"

"Shut up," said the Dane in exasperation. "This is important, and I don't have much time. We've been occupied." A pause came before Berwald answered.

"Then I can't help you; m'neutral, if you've forgotten."

"I know. Just listen."

"I'm sorry Erik, but y'know my position. This has nothing t'do with me."

"We need your help," Erik admitted grudgingly. "Please. You know what the German's will do. Thousands of innocent lives are at stake. Or have you forgotten already that we were once brothers?" There was another silence.

"…what must I do?" Erik smiled.

"Nothing, Berwald. That is my plan."

* * *

**Translations:**

**Danish:  
**faen – damn  
Dannebrog – the Danish flag  
Håb affjedre i det uendelige – Hope springs eternally (an old Danish saying)  
bonderøv – idiot  
lortehoved – shithead  
gaa ad helvede til – go to hell  
tak – thank you  
Kalmar Union - . Queen Margaret of Denmark united all the Nordic lands in the "Kalmar Union" in 1397, but tensions between Sweden and Demark were too great, and the union eventually disintegrated in the early 16th century.

**German:  
**schwule – homosexuals  
dommkopfs – idiots (referring, in this case, to the Nazi's persecution of the mentally handicapped)  
insekt – bug  
Willst du wohl gefälligst den mund halten?! – Will you kindly shut up?!  
bewegung – move  
Abhanden kommen – Get lost.

**Historical Notes:**

During World War II Germany invaded the county of Denmark. The invasion itself was short enough. It began at 4: 15 in the morning on April 9, 1940, violating the non-aggression treaty Germany and Denmark had signed a year earlier. Only 16 Danish soldiers died in the attempt to defend their country. Two hours later, Denmark surrendered, hoping that if they cooperated, they could work out a peaceful agreement with Germany. Their occupation would last for five years.

Germany invaded Denmark for several strategic reasons. Denmark has very good farmland and Germany took advantage of Denmark's natural resources, such as crops and livestock. Also, invading Denmark provided an easy way to transport German troops into Norway. The Germans could make use of Denmark's ports and waterways to export goods and troops and receive important cargo. This, coupled with the fact that Hitler thought that the Danes were perfect Aryans, made the occupation of Denmark much less brutal than in some neighboring countries. The Danes were permitted to keep their government, and their monarch, King Christian X.

Each day, King Christian X would ride on horseback through the streets of Denmark as he always had. When the law went out that all Jews must wear the yellow Star of David prominently displayed on their clothing, the King wore one proudly himself, declaring that all his people were equal, and urging all the citizens to wear them, as well. Many people simply ignored the Germans. Eventually, the Nazis forced King Christian to leave the throne and broke up Denmark's government and military.

In 1943, an order went out that all Jews must be sent to the concentration camps. For most Danes, this was the final straw. They weren't about to let this happen. Many gentile Danes hid their Jewish neighbors in secret compartments or hidden rooms. Some Jews "became members" of gentile families to avoid suspicion. Many escaped to Sweden, which was maintained neutrality during World War II. Historically, Sweden and Demark did not get along very well. This stemmed from hundreds of years of fighting with each other over which country would be dominant over the other. The Danes felt that even though Sweden claimed to be neutral, the Swedes were helping the Nazis by letting them pass though their country to get to others. To this day, there is still some bad blood between the two countries.

The occupation ended five years after it began, on May 7, 1945.

The occupation of Denmark, in addition to the many other Nazi occupations and atrocities of World War II, was a horrible event. Many people lost their lives trying to escape, or to help their friends. But of 8,000 Danish Jews, 7,500 made it to Sweden with the aid of their friends and families, and many families were reunited. People who had been arrested by the Gestapo years before were returned safely to their country.

**On a personal note, my maternal grandparents, Tom and Britta, met in an air raid shelter that was located in the basement of the hotel in which my grandfather was working, and later fell in love. If that hadn't happened, none of my family would even be here today. The fact that love can blossom and grow in the midst of the chaos all around is, in my opinion, the greatest triumph of all.**


End file.
